According to the World Bank, an NGOs (Non-Governmental Organization)are "private organizations that pursue activities to relieve suffering,promote the interests of the poor...or undertake community development." Funding for NGOs can come from governmental and non-governmentalsources. Most funding is for specific development projects, althoughfunds may also be awarded as recognition for past work.

Funding organizations recognize victims of human trafficking, spread ofdisease and lack of development in emerging countries as some criticalglobal issues. To raise awareness of global issues, organizations awardsmall grants to non-governmental organizations and other groups. Fundershope that innovators and entrepreneurs of NGOs may be an influence tocommunities and government programs.

UN Trafficking Fund

Some trafficking victims face forced labor, sexual exploitation and actas child soldiers. The United Nations leads a Trust Fund for Victims ofHuman Trafficking to help victims rebuild their lives. United NationsOffice on Drugs and Crime (UNODC) administers the small grants and awardsthe funds to qualified non-government organizations (NGOs). The amount ofthe award varies as contributions to the fund continues to grow.

Small Grants Programme

The Small Grants Programme encourages local people and communities toaddress global environmental issues and raise public awareness. Actingas an environmental resource, community and non governmentalorganizations may qualify for a grant up to $50,000. The program hopesthat with NGOs' involvement with the environment they will be a positiveinfluence on government programs.

The USAID Regional Development Mission Asia (RDMA)

Malaria is prominent in Cambodia, China, Lao, Burma, Thailand and Viet Nam.The USAID Regional Development Mission Asia (RDMA) awards small grants toNGOs that can provide information and technical support to contain malariaor improve the quality of diagnosis and treatment in community healthcenters. The amount of the grant varies based on availability. QualifiedNGO programs run over a five-year term.

Development Innovation Ventures (DIV)

Progress in a developing country relies on innovation and processes. USAID'sDevelopment Innovation Ventures (DIV) awards small grants to encourage NGOs,entrepreneurs, innovators and businesses to develop solutions for saving costsand methods of development. The grant seeks innovative new tools, new approachesand processes developed by organizations to reach communities on wide scale. DIVdetermines the amount of the award.

NGO grants are specific kinds of proposals for the dispersal of moneyto major organizations. NGOs, or non-government organizations, areoften not-for-profit organizations that are set up to operate outsideof a regional or national government. These organizations operate forvarious reasons, many of them associated with health and safety,quality of life for local citizens, or progressive goals for an economy.When these groups receive funding from a government or other source,this is often characterized as an NGO grant.

Although some NGOs may in rare cases provide their own grants to thirdparties, NGO grants are largely recognized as grants made to NGOs. Manyof these are made by governments that recognize the use or utility ofNGOs within their nation or region. NGO grants can be secured in variousways, including a formal application to an existing government program.

In many cases, individual NGOs may be assisted in grant research by aseries of third-party groups. Many of these disperse detailed grantinformation to NGOs, including where programs are set up, and how NGOsmay apply. Many kinds of grant research also involve the missions orobjectives of the grant program, or the actual reasons for which thegrant program was set up. These sorts of missions and objectives includeeconomic goals such as poverty reduction, ecological goals likesustainable use of resources, or humanitarian goals like progress inhuman rights or demographic equality.

NGOs may also be assisted by individual grant writers when they seek tosecure NGO grants. In some cases, the relationships between the NGO anda grant writer are constrained or bound by certain laws. NGOs may berestricted in the ways that they can pay these grant writers for thework that they do, where, in many areas of the world, paying a grantwriter through commissions is not an acceptable strategy.

Grants generally enable NGOs to continue or expand their operations.Since these organizations frequently operate without profit-centereddivisions, they rely on government or private funding. The success ofan NGO in securing grants may determine whether that group continuesto work or closes down. This is why NGO leaders pay so much attentionto the various existing grant programs and protocols for securing NGOgrants.

A non-governmental organization (NGO) is a non-profit, citizen-basedgroup that functions independently of government. NGOs are organizedon local, national and international levels to serve specific socialor political purposes.

As non-profit organizations, NGOs rely on a variety of sources forfunding projects, operations, salaries and other overhead costs.Because the annual budget of an NGO can be in the hundreds of millions(or even billions) of dollars, fundraising efforts are important forthe NGO's existence and success. Funding sources include membershipdues, the sale of goods and services, private sector for-profitcompanies, philanthropic foundations, grants from local, state andfederal agencies, and private donations.

Individual private donors comprise a significant portion of NGO funding.Some of these donations come from wealthy individuals - such as TedTurner's $1 billion donation to the United Nations, or Warren Buffett'spledge to give 10 million Berkshire-Hathaway class B shares to the Billand Melinda Gates Foundation (valued at more than $31 billion in June 2006).Many NGOs, however, rely on a large number of small donations (rather thana small number of large donations).

Despite their independence from government, many NGOs rely heavily ongovernment funding in order to function. Some governmental NGO fundingmay be viewed as controversial because the funding may support certainpolitical goals rather than a nation's development goals.